The secretary, who they’d seen earlier, pointed him out.
“Him. My personal defamer. What I did to earn that kind of thing, I don’t know.”
The boy, who was twitching all over the place looked scared.
“I heard you tell him that you wanted to do it. Again. That he was a bad boy. When you were giving me a warning on my record for being late last week.” The words weren’t firm or anything showing real strength.
Troy shook his head.
“Not fair. You aren’t allowed to listen in on people like that and use it against them. Especially if you want to not be out. Shifters are a known thing now, you know that right? Are you out then? Because if this is you hiding what you are…”
Tran might not have been super human, but she was a detective and bright enough to realize what he was saying.
“So, a shape shifter? A w… A wolf?”
The boy looked down.
“Fuck.” Then he shook his head. “No. I’m a bat. Um, Calley Hale is a relative of mine.” That was said for Troy.
It also wasn’t missed that the kid, even when outed in front of the secretary, hadn’t pointed out that he was a vampire. Everyone there knew it as a fact, but the kid had no way of knowing that was the case. He’d gotten the subdued body movement and lack of a heartbeat, most likely. Possibly that his scent was wrong as well.
“Oh? She’s a personal friend of mine. From before I became a vampire, actually. So, your cousin or whatever being the Shifter President won’t get you off the hook here. You should more than know better. I can’t… This was stupid on a lot of levels. Right now, we need to meet with your parents, then you’re going to scrub that wall until it gleams. It’s brick, so you get the issue there, right? I will be checking on it. There might be other community service as well. Both communities, so get ready for that part. Now…”
He didn’t have Calley’s number in his phone. The truth was that they’d banged a few dozen times back in the day, but hadn’t really gone out. That meant he needed to find the right number. On the good side, he knew a few people that might be able to get him hooked up that way.
One of the numbers he did have was for Tyler Gartner. The head of the Coalition of Nations. Tapping that in got a single ring then the line picked up. The man was good about things like that.
“Tyler Gartner, how may I help you?”
“Hi Tyler. Troy Lopez here. Um, vampire. I have a bit of an issue here in Arizona. I work with the police, as an officer here. We have a Shifter who used his powers to collect data on his human school principal. Claimed that he and his secretary were doing the nastiest in their spare time. Apparently, it’s true, but we can’t allow graffiti on school walls. He’s a bat? Calley Hale is a relative of his, or so he’s claiming. I’m calling to get her number to hook him up with some extra punishment for this.”
There was a bit of typing in the background, then a sound of air moving inward.
“Troy Lopez. I know of you, of course. The vampire cop. Really, I’ve been meaning to get with you. Eve suggested that we get together, since, well, obvious overlap that way, right? Now, let me get you… actually I’ll walk the phone up, if you don’t mind waiting a minute?” There was no heavy breathing, but the phone was making a rushing sound, meaning that it was moving pretty quickly. Sparks, the embassy complex in Nevada, was supposed to be huge. He’d been near there before. At Tyler’s house, for Calley’s Presidential win party, in point of fact. He’d even met the young looking dead man on the phone. Only in passing though.
The guy, kept going, when Troy didn’t insist on being called back.
“Now, I was thinking that I could put some of the work I get through your office there. The law enforcement things? Your people there will need to sign off on it, but that won’t be a big problem. I’ve already chatted up Chief Benson a few times on the phone. What do you think? He said that you’re going to start a new unit there for things like that soon? With Detective… Um, Denise Tran?”
That information showed a lot more concern with him and what he was doing than Troy would have suspected. Still, it was clear that Eve was involved, and since they were pals, that kind of thing really just made sense.
“Right. Detective Tran and I are on the Supernatural Task Force here. We have a project coming up. A meet and greet, picnic kind of thing. We need funding for it. I was thinking that you always seem to do well that way. We could probably work out something, don’t you think? We can use Morgan here for slave labor for it.” Everyone was looking at him funny, as if he were being scary.
Including the two new people that had come. One of them, the mother of the boy, was red headed, had thick glasses on and managed to look like a troll doll all at the same time. The other person was a human, so probably not the biological father. Then, Troy wasn’t totally certain how that kind of thing worked.
So, he waved. Just as Tyler spoke again.
“Here we are. Calley? Phone for you. Troy Lopez? He has an issue with a Morgan? A Bat Shifter that’s claiming to be related to you?”
“What? I mean… Give me the phone…. Troy! What’s up? You have my little cousin?”
Everyone that could hear her seemed upset suddenly.
“I do! We have an issue. I think that you can help me fix it. What do you say?”
“Sure. As long as it won’t get blood all over the place?”
He laughed, even if it wasn’t that funny.
Everyone else acted like it wasn’t at least.
Chapter three
After two minutes of talking with Principal Butler, Troy stopped everyone.
“All right. We don’t need to take all day on some brat’s punishment.” He glared at Morgan, shaking his head. “In case you missed the point there Bauer, I mean you. Right now, I want him to go and clean the wall outside the gym. Then I’m thinking a written apology and… I don’t know, maybe a beating? Calley, what do you think on that one?”
There was a pause, then a soft sigh, since she had to know that Troy Lopez wasn’t really going to be suggesting physical harm for painting on a wall.
“We could strand him for a few weeks? That tends to get people’s attention.”
“Strand? I’m not familiar with that one.” This came from the principal. He pulled at his jacket a bit, like it wasn’t all that comfortable. Probably because it had been gotten off the rack and didn’t fit quite right. You could do generic clothing better than that. The man was a bit heavy, but not so much that it was that doing the work toward making him uncomfortable. Though it might have been that he was responding to the way that Morgan’s mother was looking at him. Like she wanted to solve the whole issue with a bit of kinky sex.
Given she was a bat shifter, that would probably work pretty well in her book. Bats didn’t do fidelity or monogamy well. At least from what the ones he knew had told him.
They were on the speaker phone in the head man’s office, so they could all hear everything. Even the humans could.
Calley, on the line, spoke up instantly.
“We strand people on small islands, instead of putting them in prison. A lot of Shifters don’t take to confinement well.”
“Oh. I don’t think we need to go that far. I was thinking a suspension. Three days?”
Troy was about to snort in derision, when Tran did it for him.
“How about that stranding, instead? This boy went out of his way to humiliate two people, because he didn’t like them being in charge. I don’t know how Shifters feel about that kind of thing, but I know that I’m not huge on the idea.”
That she’d care seemed off to him, but Troy had to figure that she had something of a point. No one else spoke. Morgan actually hung his head. Then, he was the one people were planning to stick on an island away from everyone in the world.
Tyler spoke then, his voice mellow. Also, a bit too calm. Or not. It was about graffiti after all, not murder or some kind of sex crime.
“I know, I think we should go with what you s
aid earlier, Officer Lopez. We can put Mr. Bauer there in charge of setting up that picnic for a meeting of the communities in your area. After he publicly apologizes for the graffiti and of course, tells everyone about his being a shifter.”
That part seemed a bit over the top. There had been attacks on shifters by humans in the last year. Not a lot of them, and to the best of his knowledge that had stopped after the battle about six months before. Just after he’d started on the force. He’d been called in for support on that, since it was against rogue military people. They hadn’t lasted long. Not with all the people his side had brought in. They hadn’t even hidden it from the public. It still wasn’t talked about much.
Interestingly, Mrs. Bauer looked at her son and nodded.
“We… Yes. That sounds fair.”
Troy smiled and didn't say that it didn’t sound like that at all to him. It was probably safe enough.
Tyler seemed pleased at least.
“Great. I need numbers so that I can set that up. Is everyone good with this? It isn’t prison or even juvie. Then, Principal Butler, you were good with a three-day suspension. How about the other wronged party? Is she all right with that?”
She wasn’t in the room, since the woman had an actual job to get done. Plus, it had to be nearing time for her to go home for the day. She was an older woman, doing the work part time, from what he’d heard. Probably so she could watch her boy toy, Principal Butler. Fair enough. Neither of them was married or anything.
“I don’t know. Let me check… Or…”
Denise was already up, and called out from the doorway. Then she explained the current plan.
“It’s that or stranding him on a small island alone. I’m still voting for that one, but it’s up to you.”
The woman looked mean for a second. The secretary did the same, then looked at Morgan and sighed.
“Fine. Is it safe though? The shifter thing… I wouldn’t want anyone being hurt.”
Thinking for a bit, Troy tilted his head and tried to seem confident.
“It should be. Avery is doing all right back in Vancouver. Neither of these places is exactly a hub of supernatural hate or anything. You have military training, right Morgan?”
That got a simple nod.
“Sure. Three years of it, why?”
Calley laughed. It wasn’t really that pleasant for her. Dark came to mind for Troy, on hearing it.
“So that you can fight if anyone comes for you. It’s a real point. Human school, so you can’t be armed. Then again, they probably can’t kill you, even if they try with weapons. I… Someone is here. I need to go. Sorry. Keep me apprised?”
Troy smiled. That she was at the Sparks embassy was a bit strange, so the idea she might be there for a meeting was kind of sensible. Probably far more important than some kid with a can of spray paint.
“Not a problem. I’ll be in touch soon.”
Then Tyler got off the phone as well, and Troy stood up, waving for Morgan to do the same.
“You have the plan? Let me give you my card. You get in touch daily until this is handled. I don’t sleep, so whenever you call is fine. Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. Actually, everyone take one.” He passed the things out like they were made of paper, which they were. Card stock, but they hadn’t cost a lot. Even if they were fancy seeming.
Detective Tran did the same thing, then got them out of there. Heading directly to the secretary’s desk.
“Hello. We need to get in touch with several students. We don’t have a warrant, but we just need to talk to some young men before they accidently commit a felony or two. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine too.”
It really was. They could use the computers at work to find the right numbers. It would take a little longer, but that was all.
Interestingly, the woman was more than helpful. So much so that Troy ended up writing, since he wasn’t certain that Detective Tran could write fast enough to get all the information down. Not just phone numbers, but addresses and current grade point averages were mentioned.
In short, the lady with the gray hair behind the desk was rather pleased with them. Enough to sell out kids who hadn’t wronged her at all. Given that little Morgan the Bat was getting off decently light by vampire standards, Troy didn’t totally see her point there. Then again, she was used to kids getting pats on the back when they screwed up, he didn’t doubt.
At least that was what it had sounded like to him. Not that it wasn’t the same as when Troy had gone to a very similar high school. Then, he’d been one of the good kids who hadn’t really gone in for doing things like painting the walls or fighting. No, for him, back in the day, school had been all about one thing. The chicks.
He made himself smile a bit, recalling that part of his life. Poorly. It was kind of hard to focus on, so he didn't bother.
He’d probably been as big of a doofus as Morgan or even Clem, just in his own way. Throwing himself at every girl that was willing to bother paying even a little bit of attention to him. Desperately clinging to those little scraps of attention as if that, their regard, was what had given his life meaning and purpose. At least starting in the eleventh grade. It had seemed like he was being cool and just in it for the sex, but even before turning twenty it had become apparent to him what had to really be going on.
Then, he wasn’t totally certain that insight hadn’t come to him thanks to being taken as a slave by a greater demon. Finias, the Mind Taker.
Quickly, that thought was forced from his head. After all, the demon hadn’t abused him. Not that it was a fun idea, not having free will, but being made to be a slightly better version of himself wasn’t that hard to put up with. That, the link between them, had broken when he’d died. Becoming a vampire.
A bargain made for his freedom, by Eve.
She hadn’t even loved him or anything. It was just an aside at the time, for her. A thing to bargain for that she didn't really have to worry about later. It was a big, maybe even a huge, thing to have asked for. A life, after a fashion. The thing with that was simple to Troy. At the time, she couldn’t have cared for him at all, since if it had been important to her, Finias would have asked a lot more of her than some information in return.
As soon as he had down all the data, for all the ruffie club kids, Troy turned on the charm. Nothing inside of him changed at all, but Mrs. Johansen seemed to be influenced by it enough to grin back. There was a twinkle in her eye, as if she knew that she was skirting the hell out of the law. That wasn’t really true, though. The school had rules about passing information on students, but the state didn’t actually forbid it at all.
“Thanks. We can get with you if we need anything else? The other way around, too. If you need us for anything, get in touch.” He meant if Morgan or Clem were a problem, but for some reason Denise acted like he was looking for some freaky strapon action of his own.
As if he wouldn’t go to his new partner for that if it was in the cards?
She didn’t ask about it on the way out, probably figuring that a guy without a sex drive was just acting, in order to not seem like the giant freak he truly was. At least he hoped that was what she had going on in her head. If not, then it was going to be worse than that. People did love to think the worst of you, after all. Everything in his world had hammered that lesson home for the last decade and a half.
Before that…
It was strange, for a moment, but nothing came to him. He’d been a kid. No doubt there had been fun kid things during that part. It wasn’t worth worrying over, so he let it go.
When they got to the car it was nearly three-thirty. Even in early spring that meant it was close enough to the sun going down for him to feel a tiny bit of relief. It wasn’t enough for real comfort, but instead of a blast furnace, the world felt like he was in a five-hundred-degree oven.
Tran looked at him from the side of her eye, her slightly plump face seeming a bit sly for some reason. Troy got ready for the ribbing over Mrs. Johansen and his supposed l
ove for kinky sex, but the lady surprised him.
“Our first fucking day.” She sounded happy, even if the words could have been bitter about being stuck at a school for almost the whole thing. That was kind of lame, as far as police work went.
“Hmm?” Going for non-committal was better than assuming that he understood her at all. Acting like he didn’t get it by too much could be a problem as well, if she decided to take insult. Still, communication was important. Acting like he could read her when he wasn’t could end up with them having crossed signals later, when they needed that clarity. In a gun fight, or on poker night. Whichever was more likely to happen.
“Not even six hours in and we’re already dealing with something that is approaching being real. I figured that we might… I don’t know, come up with one or two strange supernatural things a year. I guess we still might, but this was a good start. You even started that bullshit with your picnic. I mean, you just called up the head of the CoN and he was into the idea and everything. That’s enough to make Roy happy, I bet. Then you called up the President of the Shifters and she was even on our side.”
It did sound all right, when put that way. If the goal was to connect with the others in the world, the non-human, then Troy and Denise really had gotten off to a good start.
“Well…” He nearly didn’t say anything, then shook his head. After all, hiding anything from Tran was a good way for her to make mistakes later. Which would probably end up with him having to protect her. She was his now, after all.
The idea would have shocked her, he didn’t doubt. She probably figured that she belonged to herself. Possibly her husband, or maybe even the department. Thinking about it, Troy hadn’t heard anything about a hubby yet. That didn’t mean he wasn’t around. A lot of people didn’t start right in on long conversations about their relationships.
Troy Ounce (Lopez Time Book 1) Page 4
